- Posted By: richadmin
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In 2018 we spent almost a month living and travelling in the Yukon Wilderness aiming to recreate Alex Van Bibber's 1943 Canoil Expedition from Mayo to Norman Wells. During our stay in Betty's Cabin away from distractions of modern life with emails, calls and other elements I literally had 2-3 nights where I awoke with poetry and verse flying around my head. With a pencil and my journal this is what i managed to jot down by head torch. There are three poems about the Yukon that i am publishing on my website.
Of course I am not the first to experience such inspiration as the famous Yukon poet Robert Service bears witness to the creative and spiritual nature of this wilderness. Throughout our planning of the Ski to the Edge we wanted to honour Alex and highlight the impact and legacy he left.
To Alex!...Hope you like it
Heading out for a trip to ski to the edge
Carrying all my worldly possessions tucked in a sledge
Me , Si , matt 3 musketeers into the night
Temperature down to minus 50 gave us a fright
Leaving Mayo with lights, warmth and good folk
Must have appeared like a bit of a joke
The footsteps we followed were bigger than ours
Of a time and a man with special powers
Alex van Bibber was a legend in time
Holding the fort for values like mine
He walked and explored the Yukon wild
Since born at Pelly crossing, only a child
Getting to school meant taking a raft
Such responsibility as captain seems almost daft
Alex prospered, sharing, teaching the old ways
Patient, kind, witty till the end of his days
He shared with us an incredible tale
Of his time reccying the pipeline trail
Forty two days of camping out rough
Hardly noticed by a man so tough
Our journey and adventure has taken a turn
With matt’s frostbite toes new plans discern
To make Norman wells would be a huge risk
Like scary roulette with only one disc
The game has changed with just Si and Rich
Finding new rhythm and scouting the pitch
Hopefully spending a month in the wild
We’ll get more sunlight and days that are mild
And Alex would smile feeling proud
We’ve taken small steps and been truly wowed
Understanding his journey during the war
Humble, authentic and ever so raw
So thank you Alex for sharing your tale
When men were men and refused to fail
